The Magic of KDP Select - A Debut Author's Story
What a whirlwind book launch.
My head is still spinning. I never expected there to be an audience for my writing.
Hoped, yes. Expected, no.
After publishing my debut novel, The Covert Academy, on Friday 1st Feb 2013 (NZ time), I saw around 10 sales over the weekend. Probably they were some of my faithful Facebook friends, since I had been spamming their timelines with my book's launch date.
But I joined KDP Select right away, because as a new author, I realised there would be little to no public knowledge of my book's release.
So I scheduled a single day's free promotion for Monday (USA time), and signed up to a bunch of ebook newsletters in the hopes of drumming up awareness.
The Covert Academy is now sitting at:
#13 in Amazon's bestsellers for Science Fiction Adventure,
#37 for General Fiction Action/Adventure,
#1,012 Overall in the Free Kindle Store
EDIT: By the end of the promo it had reached
#6 for Science Fiction Adventure,
#14 for General Fiction Action/Adventure,
#520 Overall in the Free Kindle Store
I know it will drop back down after the promotion, but I am still amazed. Floored even. It was at around #60-80,000 overall before the promo.
It's incredible to see people from around the world adding my work to their "to-read" list on Goodreads or "Liking" it on Facebook.
Where will it go from here? I haven't made a cent from those sales, not that I mind. The hope is that some of those readers will enjoy the read, post an honest review on Amazon, and help keep the book in the spotlight for a while longer.
I would dearly love to continue the story of the Academy. I've got many more ideas about where the series should go next!
Writing a 60k+ word novel is no small task. This was my first attempt, and it took me six months of almost full-time commitment. My wonderful parents supported me the entire time, since my animation freelancing work had slowed towards Christmas. I owe them a lot.
Still, I enjoyed every minute of the process. I want to do it again.
Six months to write a book?
...Well that's two per year!
Here's to a great 2013 :)
Cheers,
-Petes
My head is still spinning. I never expected there to be an audience for my writing.
Hoped, yes. Expected, no.
After publishing my debut novel, The Covert Academy, on Friday 1st Feb 2013 (NZ time), I saw around 10 sales over the weekend. Probably they were some of my faithful Facebook friends, since I had been spamming their timelines with my book's launch date.
But I joined KDP Select right away, because as a new author, I realised there would be little to no public knowledge of my book's release.
So I scheduled a single day's free promotion for Monday (USA time), and signed up to a bunch of ebook newsletters in the hopes of drumming up awareness.
The Covert Academy is now sitting at:
#13 in Amazon's bestsellers for Science Fiction Adventure,
#37 for General Fiction Action/Adventure,
#1,012 Overall in the Free Kindle Store
EDIT: By the end of the promo it had reached
#6 for Science Fiction Adventure,
#14 for General Fiction Action/Adventure,
#520 Overall in the Free Kindle Store
I know it will drop back down after the promotion, but I am still amazed. Floored even. It was at around #60-80,000 overall before the promo.
It's incredible to see people from around the world adding my work to their "to-read" list on Goodreads or "Liking" it on Facebook.
Where will it go from here? I haven't made a cent from those sales, not that I mind. The hope is that some of those readers will enjoy the read, post an honest review on Amazon, and help keep the book in the spotlight for a while longer.
I would dearly love to continue the story of the Academy. I've got many more ideas about where the series should go next!
Writing a 60k+ word novel is no small task. This was my first attempt, and it took me six months of almost full-time commitment. My wonderful parents supported me the entire time, since my animation freelancing work had slowed towards Christmas. I owe them a lot.
Still, I enjoyed every minute of the process. I want to do it again.
Six months to write a book?
...Well that's two per year!
Here's to a great 2013 :)
Cheers,
-Petes
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